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With the U21 Canadian soccer team, Thunder, serving as the backdrop of the show’s plot, 21 Thunder debuted on Netflix last month. Something to make clear is that now, this show is not solely focused on soccer. Like Gossip Girl, emotions are heightened by a touch of drama as the characters are young adults navigating the complexities of life and relationships. The team is based in the fictional Thunder FC that operates out of Montreal. At this moment in the timeline of the show, the players are on the verge of adulthood which is a pivotal point in their lives. Most of the players of the Thunder U21 team have been playing together since 12 years of age, so this major life transition is complicated. Some of them will need to carve out a professional soccer career while others will need to pursue more sustainable options for their future. However, due to the internal clash that these characters experience, sexual escapades arise or perhaps, an arsonist will take centre stage. There is room for everything on this show, and diversity is just the cherry on top. Lastly, it really is about time Canadian TV embraced multiculturism.
The main character – if you don’t pierce through the surface, is presumably, Nolan Gallard (RJ Fetherstonhaugh). Throughout the series, viewers see the life of a lost boy whose father is currently serving time in prison.
He’s the player who will most likely break into the first team, but Junior Lolo (Emmanuel Kabongo), the new recruit from Cote d’Ivoire is catching up to him. Of all athletes, Nolan’s story is the most sentimental. Thunder 21 will always be remembered as one more of the ‘teen dramas’ albeit its characters have long since crossed the teenage years. Like every Moody Protagonist With a Dark Past, he seems to be a blend of Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) from The OC or Jesse (Milo Ventimiglia) from Gilmore Girls. He has a bellyogram tattoo that says ‘point soldier.’ On his left pec, it says ‘king’. Interestingly, his hair is superb. His sigh is not very fascinating, but more like the much-needed sober moral guide among the rest.
Lolo, as I’ve said before, recently arrived in Montréal. He has an underlying agenda. Furthermore, he is in a bit of a hurry. The team captain, Alex el Haddadi (Andres Joseph) is considering going to grad school and is around the same age. He is, however, in a hurry for other reasons. Stefan Arnaud (Kevin Claydon) has a mohawk and is also deeply infatuated with someone. Other than that, though, he seems pretty relaxed. Last but not least, Jonathan Kim aka James Tran is now a team member and is also trying very hard to be accepted by everybody. Meanwhile, all of them just wish they were better at soccer, a fantasy they have which is challenged by the other non-soccer-playing characters in the show.
21 Thunder is, thankfully, not a guy’s show so even if it’s about a guy’s soccer team, it still manages to, as the saying goes, bring home the bacon. This is concerned with football, as well as with the individuals who inhabit the football world. This includes physiotherapists, social workers, medical students, social media managers, and even a few referees. Most of them are women. Two instances of ‘distinct women rescue the soap opera’ spring to mind: the owner of the team, who is portrayed by Cristina Rosato, is a menace to everyone else on the show, and the insane amount of physical therapist turned medic Lara (Eileen Yi) causes the most insane amount of drama on the show. Lara is also quite a bit more narcissistic than people anticipate.
In the first season the only season so far the storyline revolves around a scheme that somehow involves almost every character in ways that I won’t explain. With each episode, the scheme grows more and more absurd, but 21 Thunder does a lot of convincing to ensure you believe these characters have no other option. Always remember, it is a pretty important year for the Montreal Thunder. It is even more important than Serena Van Der Woodsen’s (Blake Lively) return to New York City after spending time abroad. This is the quarter-life crisis of Girls infused with the sincerity of Friday Night Lights. And it all will culminate with a wedding cake being crushed on the floor.
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